I am alone on the Enterprise. I have searched every area of the ship and still cannot find a trace of the crew, or an indication of how its disappearance was managed. The one thing that is obvious is that I suffered a memory lapse, during which time I bruised my arm. It is causing me some irritation.

First OfficerSpock reporting. Obviously the Gideons have transported Captain Kirk onto this replica of the Enterprise to so confuse his mind as to make him susceptible to some extraordinary experiment. It is my intention to locate the captain and warn him before the experiment reaches its conclusion, which logic indicates means the end of the captain's life as he knows it.

Depicts the coordinates and maps of the Gideon system and homeworld, as well as the Gideonite history and clothing. Gideon is identified as Delta Dorado VII, consistent with data provided in the "Introduction To Navigation" booklet accompanying Star Trek Maps.

The novelization by James Blish contains a scene where Odona accidentally burns off her finger with a medical instrument, and quickly re-grows the digit. This aspect of Gideonite physiology was not shown in the episode, although it was alluded that they did have a great resistance to injury. The prose version also added a scene where the crew proposes Odana will offer a symbol of illness to those she infects. The characters of Krodak and Fitzgerald were not named in the novelization.